Partridge

[pahr-trij] /ˈpɑr trɪdʒ/

noun, plural partridges (especially collectively) partridge.
1.
any of several Old World gallinaceous game birds of the subfamily Perdicinae, especially Perdix perdix.
2.
Chiefly Northern U.S. the ruffed grouse.
3.
Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. .
4.
any of several other North American gallinaceous game birds.
5.
any of various South and Central American tinamous.
[pahr-trij] /ˈpɑr trɪdʒ/
noun
1.
Eric (Honeywood)
[huhn-ee-woo d] /ˈhʌn iˌwʊd/ (Show IPA), 1894–1979, British lexicographer, born in New Zealand.
/ˈpɑːtrɪdʒ/
noun (pl) -tridges, -tridge
1.
any of various small Old World gallinaceous game birds of the genera Perdix, Alectoris, etc, esp P. perdix (common or European partridge): family Phasianidae (pheasants)
2.
(US & Canadian) any of various other gallinaceous birds, esp the bobwhite and ruffed grouse
/ˈpɑːtrɪdʒ/
noun
1.
Eric (Honeywood). 1894–1979, British lexicographer, born in New Zealand; author of works on English usage, idiom, slang, and etymology
n.

late 12c., from Old French pertis, alteration of perdis (perhaps influenced by fem. suffix -tris), from Latin perdicem (nominative perdix) “plover, lapwing,” from Greek perdix, the Greek partridge, probably related to perdesthai “to break wind,” in reference to the whirring noise of the bird’s wings, from PIE imitative base *perd- “to break wind” (cf. Sanskrit pardate “breaks wind,” Lithuanian perdzu, Russian perdet, Old High German ferzan, Old Norse freta, Middle English farten).

(Heb. kore, i.e., “caller”). This bird, unlike our own partridge, is distinguished by “its ringing call-note, which in early morning echoes from cliff to cliff amidst the barrenness of the wilderness of Judea and the glens of the forest of Carmel” hence its Hebrew name. This name occurs only twice in Scripture. In 1 Sam. 26:20 “David alludes to the mode of chase practised now, as of old, when the partridge, continuously chased, was at length, when fatigued, knocked down by sticks thrown along the ground.” It endeavours to save itself “by running, in preference to flight, unless when suddenly started. It is not an inhabitant of the plain or the corn-field, but of rocky hill-sides” (Tristram’s Nat. Hist.). In Jer. 17:11 the prophet is illustrating the fact that riches unlawfully acquired are precarious and short-lived. The exact nature of the illustration cannot be precisely determined. Some interpret the words as meaning that the covetous man will be as surely disappointed as the partridge which gathers in eggs, not of her own laying, and is unable to hatch them; others (Tristram), with more probability, as denoting that the man who enriches himself by unjust means “will as surely be disappointed as the partridge which commences to sit, but is speedily robbed of her hopes of a brood” by her eggs being stolen away from her. The commonest partridge in Palestine is the Caccabis saxatilis, the Greek partridge. The partridge of the wilderness (Ammo-perdix heyi) is a smaller species. Both are essentially mountain and rock birds, thus differing from the English partridge, which loves cultivated fields.